


How Not To Listen To Assholes

by janey_p



Series: Fluffvember 2020 [28]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluffvember 2020, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries, Panic Attacks, Pep Talk, Prompt Fill, but not described in detail, some at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janey_p/pseuds/janey_p
Summary: When a taunt by a suspect hits a little too close to home for Thomas, Gordon is there to help him out of his downwards spiral.
Relationships: Gordon Katsumoto/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Series: Fluffvember 2020 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992121
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	How Not To Listen To Assholes

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #28: **Holding My Head Up High**
> 
> Loosely connected to [A P.I. And A Detective Walk Into A House ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27540661)
> 
> So, this story is several hours late (by our usual posting schedule, at least). But last night, when I was supposed to be writing, I was so tired that I couldn’t even think clearly. And then, today, the story just got longer and longer. Apparently, Thomas _really_ needed the pep talk. Poor guy! ;)

It didn’t happen all that often that one of Thomas’s cases was linked to one of Gordon’s. So when it happened this time, Thomas was delighted. He loved working with Gordon, instead of against him, these days. It usually meant their cases got closed faster if they pooled their resources. But the main bonus, to Thomas, was how well they worked together. And Thomas was also never against spending more time with Gordon. Especially since they hadn’t seen much of each other recently. And Thomas had been in a bit of a funk for about half of that time. Being around Gordon could only improve his mood.

His delight soured quickly when their suspect turned out to be a slimy asshole with the looks and the feral behavior of a sewer rat. The sleaze—as Thomas dubbed him—cared little for the damage he did as he tried to escape. The sooner they could stop him, the better.

Gordon reached him first. The sleaze tried to wriggle out of Gordon’s grip, but when that proved impossible, he went still for a moment, most likely weighing his options. Then he burst into action again.

Thomas all but froze when he saw the size of the knife that was suddenly in the sleaze’s hand. Gordon—who was about to arrest the guy—was much too close to properly evade it. Blood rushed loudly in Thomas’s ears as blood started welling up on Gordon’s forearm. He was only dimly aware of the knife clattering to the ground in the skirmish that followed—too busy trying to regulate his breathing. He hated how easily he’d become useless when he saw Gordon in danger. What the hell was _wrong_ with him? He heaved another painful breath and quietly started counting.

His vision cleared again after a few seconds, and as he looked up to check on Gordon, he instead caught the sleaze staring back at him with a calculating expression on his face. It made his stomach clench with a sense of foreboding and threatened to make him lose whatever control he’d gained over his breathing again.

Gordon hauled the sleaze up by his handcuffs and turned him around to lead him away. Thomas followed them numbly, not paying much attention to his surroundings. So he was surprised that the next corner they took, they were back at their car. How had that happened? Had they doubled back at some point in their chase?

Just before Gordon stashed the sleaze in the backseat, the man turned to Thomas with a mean grin.

“You act like some tough guy, but everyone around you keeps getting hurt. You can’t protect them, can you?”

Thomas must have made some sort of sound at that because while the sleaze’s grin widened, Gordon was sending Thomas a concerned look. Great! So, on top of not helping much today, he was also adding to Gordon’s worries. As if he didn’t have enough on his plate with this case already. And that injury… That had looked bad, with the blood spreading everywhere… 

He didn’t really notice the slam of a car door and Gordon’s voice somewhere near him. He was only aware of the sleaze’s grin and how deep it cut to have it directed at him.

Then there was a pair of arms around him, making him jump.

“Hey. Thomas, it’s me.” That was Gordon’s voice in his ear, and he slumped forward, holding on for dear life. “Are you okay?”

“Am _I_ okay?” Thomas flinched. “Gordon! I’m not the one who got _hurt_!”

He tried to step back, to make Gordon let go. The way he held Thomas couldn’t be good for his injury. Gordon blinked at him.

“Oh, you mean this?” he asked, holding his arm out so Thomas could see. Thomas didn’t _want_ to look at it, though. It just reminded him of his failure.

“Thomas, take a look. It’s really not that bad. Barely a scratch.”

“That’s what they all say!”

“It’s true, though.” He snapped his fingers in front of Thomas’s face when he stubbornly kept his head turned away. “Would I lie to you about that? It really looks worse than it is. The blood got smeared all over the place when I wrestled the guy down. But it wasn’t that much. I promise!”

Thomas finally dared to look since Gordon insisting like that must mean it was true. And… “Where’s all the blood?” he asked, bewildered. There had been a lot more, after all. 

“I wiped most of it off. Didn’t want to look like I need to be rushed to the ER when backup arrives.”

There was a lot to unpack in that sentence, and for a moment, Thomas struggled to make sense of it. 

He couldn’t help but focus on “ER” first. It had sent a fearful jolt through him for a hot second, but the wound _was_ very shallow upon closer inspection. And not very long, either. Gordon had been right to call it a scratch. No need for stitches—disinfection and a light bandage should be enough.

The other thing was… “Backup? What for? We already have the guy.”

“Yeah, but I want to get rid of him as soon as possible. Definitely don’t want him anywhere near you for the time being. He really got to you with that comment.”

Thomas could only nod at that.

“Why is that, by the way?” Gordon continued. “You don’t tend to be that thin-skinned. You’ve got one of your anniversaries coming up?” 

“Nah. This time it’s only one of those ‘you’ve been doing great for too long’ kind of days. It’ll pass. But until then, I can’t just laugh off comments like that the way I usually do.” 

“Okay, I can accept that. But you know that he was talking bullshit, right?”

“Was he?” Thomas wasn’t so sure.

“Of course! We’ve already established that the injury wasn’t that bad. Not as bad as he wanted it to be, anyway. So I didn’t need you to protect me. I _can_ take care of myself, don’t you agree?”

Thomas nodded again.

“Good. Next thing. It’s not _your_ fault that he cut me. No!” Gordon insisted when Thomas wanted to protest. “He was the one who decided to wave that knife at me to get out of being arrested. He didn’t do it for something _you_ did. If you want to blame someone other than him, it’d have to be me since I cornered him and made him fight back.”

Thomas didn’t like that logic at all, and Gordon smiled at him knowingly.

“That’s what I thought. So, last thing. Considering your line of work, it’s not that unusual that people get hurt around you. But when was the last time someone got seriously injured? For something you did or could have prevented? Be honest.”

“Uhhh, not sure?”

“Doesn’t happen that often then,” Gordon said, looking satisfied. “So he was talking bullshit. Okay?”

“Okay,” Thomas agreed a little reluctantly. Gordon did have several excellent points, but it was still hard to accept that some things simply were out of his hands.

“So, what you’re going to do now is straighten up, smile like you mean it, and make that asshole see he didn’t win. He doesn’t deserve that victory.”

“All right,” Thomas said, a lot more firmly this time, and leaned in to hug Gordon again. _“Thank you!”_

Gordon said nothing, just returned the hug and pressed a kiss to Thomas’s temple. Thomas savored the feeling for a while and then did what Gordon told him to do. It was _very_ satisfying to see the sleaze’s grin falter at that. There was no better cure for the hit his self-esteem had taken.

*** * ***

By the time backup arrived, Thomas was pretty entertained by the sleaze’s sulk in the backseat. But he was also relieved to see him getting transferred to the squad car. Good riddance. And good thing that he wouldn’t have to be there for the interrogation later. This time, he’d gladly let Gordon handle it.

When one of the officers commented on Gordon’s cut where the sleaze could hear, Gordon replied with a casual, “Eh, it’s nothing. The guy had such a big knife and still didn’t manage to do any real damage. Pretty incompetent if you ask me.”

The resulting scowl was a thing of beauty to Thomas. Served him right!

Then there was nothing left for them to do here, and they turned to go back to their car. As they got in, the other officer called after them.

“Are you gonna make a habit of arresting suspects and then just leaving them with us to go elsewhere for who knows how long?”

“Nah, that’s only for the rabid ones. Squad cars are better suited to transport them than my unmarked one. You’ve got those practical barriers, after all.”

The officer laughed. “Such a fancy way to say ‘I don’t want to deal with the headache.’ All right then, see you for the interrogation?”

“Sure, I’ll be there,” Gordon said and then closed the door.

For a moment, they sat in comfortable silence. Until Thomas blurted, “Thank god, that’s over!”

“Yeah,” Gordon laughed, then added a little more seriously, “Are you going to be okay at home?”

“Sure. Higgins will be there, no doubt wanting to keep working on her part of our investigation. We’ve still got a couple of loose ends to deal with before we can call our client and cash in.”

“Good. I don’t want you to start worrying again.”

“I won’t, I promise. You were very good at convincing me that the sleaze was wrong.”

Thomas loved how pleased Gordon looked at that, and he vowed to thank him _properly_ later.


End file.
